'Setting the example': About 330 Riverside County farmworkers vaccinated at event in Mecca

Beatriz Martinez has continued working in the fields of the Coachella and San Joaquin valleys throughout the coronavirus pandemic. She has followed a series of protocols — maintaining a 6-foot distance from other workers, avoiding eating in close proximity to others during her lunch breaks and washing her hands frequently — and she has not contracted COVID-19.

On Thursday morning, the 54-year-old Coachella resident took a break from pruning grapevines at Tudor Ranch in Mecca, where she has worked for 35 years, to get vaccinated. She was among approximately 330 agricultural employees who got the shot at the ranch, in what county officials believe was the state’s first large vaccination event specifically for farmworkers.

Martinez — who wore a surgical mask and a colorful bandana over her mouth, and clutched a wide-brimmed hat in her hand — said in Spanish she was “really happy” to get vaccinated. She was grateful to get inoculated during work hours, she added, calling it a “reward” for all the years she had worked for the company.

For months, immigrant advocates, lawmakers and health officials have advocated for California farmworkers — as essential workers who have been hit hard by COVID-19 — to be prioritized for vaccination. Riverside County officials heeded that call, and are offering the shot to agricultural workers in an early phase of vaccination, along with seniors over age 65 and teachers.

But the county’s vaccine effort has been stymied by a shortage of doses, and the campaign to inoculate agricultural workers comes with additional challenges. Local growers have estimated that there are about 8,000 farmworkers in the Coachella Valley who should be vaccinated, while other estimates are even higher. 

Acknowledging that farmworkers might not attend the county’s vaccination clinics at the Indio Fairgrounds, due to a lack of transportation, language barriers or mistrust of the medical system, county health officials are collaborating with a group of local farmers, called Growing Coachella Valley, as well as the Desert Healthcare District and various community organizations to bring the shots to the fields. They have also offered testing and education at job sites, as well as churches and other east valley gathering points.

The collaboration is a model for agricultural counties nationwide, Luz Gallegos, executive director of the immigrant-serving non-profit organization TODEC, said during a press conference at the vaccine event. She praised area growers for “setting the example of what has to be done across the state and across the county.”

“Farmers are coming together to protect their most valuable asset — nuestros campesinos (our farmworkers),” she said. “We know if our workers are healthy, their families are healthy, their communities are healthy and our economy is healthy.”

An essential population at high risk

At Thursday’s event, workers and crew leaders registered for vaccination and then sat, socially distant, as they waited their turn for a jab in the arm, administered by staff from the public health department and the Inland Empire Health Plan. Lemon trees were visible from the waiting area.

Among those waiting was 55-year-old Gerardo Perez of Mecca, who has worked in irrigation for Tudor Ranch for more than 35 years. While neither he nor the six family members who live in his home have contracted COVID-19, he said he knows others — including colleagues from work — who have died from complications of the virus.

"You go around afraid, of everything that’s going on, of what you hear, of what you see,” Perez said in Spanish, his vaccination card in hand. “You go around with the fear that we could get it.”

He was thrilled to get the shot, and said he would continue to follow safety protocols after receiving it. The pandemic, “still hasn’t ended,” he said. “For now, you have to protect yourself.”

Isela Garcia, an assistant crew leader for Tudor Ranch, was also happy to get vaccinated. The 43-year-old lives in Mecca with her parents, and all of them have had COVID-19. Her father, she said, still has a lot of pain in his legs as a result of this illness, and is having trouble walking.

The vaccine, she said in Spanish, will “protect me, and my family, and my elderly parents.” She called the shot “simple,” adding that she had “no pain — for now.”

The county decided to prioritize farmworkers like Perez and Garcia for vaccination because “the population is so essential, and the risk is high,” county public health Director Kim Saruwatari said.

Along with continuing to harvest the country’s fruits and vegetables amid the pandemic, she said, the laborers also carpool to work with people from outside their households and return each night to multi-generational homes. Positivity rates in predominantly communities like Mecca, Oasis and Thermal have reached nearly 40%.

“It’s not just the risk that they face in the work that they do,” Saruwatari said, “but it’s also in being around other people all the time, outside of work.”

She expects other agricultural counties to start vaccinating farmworkers soon.

"I've had lots of conversations with colleagues, and they are looking to get this going," she said. "There's tremendous recognition of the need in this population by all of us."

Vaccine supply remains a problem

Growing Coachella Valley, with other groups, has developed plans to vaccinate more workers, by identifying job sites for future vaccination events and locations for drive-through clinics. But a statewide shortage of doses could slow the vaccination effort.

California is allocating to Riverside County — which has a population of about 2.5 million people — about 30,000 doses a week, Saruwatari said. The county doles some of those doses out to private providers, and uses the remaining ones for its clinics.

Referring to Thursday’s vaccination clinic, she said: “I think we could have vaccinated more, if vaccine supply wasn’t an issue.”

V. Manuel Perez, a member of the Riverside County Board of Supervisors who represents the Coachella Valley, addressed the challenge of balancing the need for more shots with the county's goal to prioritize vaccination for doctors, nurses, seniors over age 65 and critical employees like agricultural, grocery and childcare workers during a briefing last week.

"It's not a matter of not having the planning, or not having the staff, or the capacity," he said. "It's a matter of just making sure we have the vaccine, in our hands, so we can vaccinate people as soon as possible."

George Tudor, president of Tudor Ranch, also referenced the need for more doses as he called for the farmworker vaccination efforts to continue.

“I’m really happy this is happening,” he said during the event Thursday. “We hope to continue having more of these as vaccines become available for the farmworkers, who truly are essential.”

County officials are discussing future vaccination events with growers, as well as community-based organizations and faith-based groups, but no additional clinics are currently planned, according to county spokesperson Brooke Federico.

Rebecca Plevin reports on immigration for The Desert Sun. Reach her at rebecca.plevin@desertsun.com. Follow her on Twitter at @rebeccaplevin.